The Story of Michal Raczkiewicz

Michał Raczkiewicz (my 3x great grandfather) was born around 1805 in Majdan Górny.Poland. His parents were Jan Raczkiewicz and Apolonia nee Gołębiowska. His father Jan was born in Łaszczówka and his mother in Majdan Górny. The family farmed in Majdan Górny. Michał was their oldest child out of nine children. Four of the five last children died young in the time period of 1841-1851. Their cause of death is not given. During this time period, the peasants were struggling against serfdom and there were famines as well as cholera and typhus outbreaks. XXXXX Michał was a 19 year old bachelor living with his parents when he got married on January 17, 1824 at 12:00 p.m. The banns were announced previously on January 4th and January 11. The witnesses were Marcin Kukiełka, 40, Józef Pyc, 35, Sobek Jaruzal, 35, and Piotr Sobek, 40, all peasants residing in the village of Maydan Górny. Anna was 18 years old and also never before married. She lived with her parents Tomasz Dominik and Regina Wójcik, who were peasants in the same village. XXXXX Michał and Anna had eleven children between 1824 and 1850: Jan, Marianna Herda, Agnieszka Szynal, Marcin, Katarzyna Rekolicz/Reholicz, Jakub, Błażej, Antoni, Alexander, Andrzej, and Anna. The last four died as infants. They all remained as farmers in Majdan Górny or Sabaudia except for Jakub who ended up in Jezernia. Their son Antoni (my 2x great grandfather) moved to Sabaudia within two years of his marriage to Marianna Grabek who was also from Majdan Górny. XXXXX When he was about 64 years old, his wife Anna died on June 23, 1869 at the age of 63. Around six months later on January 16, 1870, Jan remarried at the age of 67. The bride was Katarzyna Szczepnaik who had been widowed five years earlier. She was 47 years old and was born in the village of Sznury to Łukasz Krawczyk and Marianna Bucior (my 5x great grandparents) from Łaszczówka. She was living in Rudka/Rutka. The witnesses were Marcin Raczkiewicz, 48, one of Michał’s younger brothers from Majdan Górny and Jan Skurcz, 30, from the village of Sabaudia. XXXXX Katarzyna died on February 1, 1878 at the age of 50 in the village of Sabaudia, leaving behind her widowed husband Michał. The death was reported by Jan Skurcz, 40 (again) and Tomasz Kędra, 38, both peasants from Sabaudia. Tomasz was the second husband of their daughter-in-law Marianna Grabek since Michał’s son Antoni (my 2x great grandfather) had died ten years earlier. XXXXX Michał died in the village of Sabaudia on November 4, 1882. He lived to the age of 80. The witnesses were both 45-year-old farmers from Sabaudia. One witness for the third time was Jan Skurcz. The other witness was Jakub, the sixth child of Michal and his wife Anna.